Chairman. during the past several years. hospital officials. medical educators. the press. representatives of organized medicine. and the publics representatives in Government have spoken of an impending crisis in our Nations system of health care. However. it has become evident that far from threatening in the remote future. crisis conditions presently exist. As reported by the Presidents National Advisory Commission on Health Manpower several months ago: The indicators of such a crisis are evident to us as Commission members and private citizens: long delays to see a physician for routine care. lengthy periods spend In the wellnamed "waiting room" and then hurried and sometimes impersonal attention in a limited appointment time. difficulty in obtaining care on nights and weekends. except through hospital emergency rooms. unavailability of beds in one hospital while some beds are empty in another. reduction of hospital services because of a lack of nurses. needless duplication of certain sophisticated services In the same community. uneven distribution of care. as Indicated by the health statistics of rural poor. urban ghetto dwellers. migrant workers. and other minority groups. which occasionally resemble the health statistics of a developing country. obsolete hospitals in our major cities. costs rising sharply from levels that already prohibit care for some and create major financial burdens for many more. However. despite knowledgeable estimates that our Nation is presently short 50.000 doctors. and that by 1970 we will be short 250.000 nurses. the Advisory Commission fails to conclude that these conditions of crisis are primarily the result of a national shortage of health manpower. Rather. it places major emphasis on defects in Americas medicalcare delivery system.